Bryce Dallas Howard plays a quiet-living author of bestselling spy novels until a real spy shows up (Sam Rockwell). He explains that the plots of her books are predicting worldwide issues and recruits her to reluctantly join in the adventure. Director Matthew Vaughn is known for clever action flicks like Kick-Ass and the Kingsman series, so this time he’s ramped up the stakes with a concept that starts out interesting but falls apart in the final act. There’s some cool action in the “real” world and the “fictional” world (featuring Henry Cavill as the superspy), but the final fights are more about a stylized cinematic flourish than actual kicking ass. There’s a see-saw between cool action moments and trite dull sequences that keeps the film more promising that it delivers. The film does feature some great fun moments (and silly cat stuff), but there’s lots more time wasted. 
(2 / 5)
